ixigo acquires Hyderabad-based bus ticketing platform AbhiBus

Le Travenues Technology Limited, the company that operates the AI based travel app ixigo, has purchased the business and operations of Hyderabad-based bus ticketing and aggregation platform AbhiBus. The platform is transferring all intellectual property, brands, technology and operations to ixigo. This is ixigo’s second acquisition in 2021; earlier in February, it had acquired train booking app Confirmtkt.

The long-haul intercity bus market in India was valued at INR 585 billion in FY2020. Buses are the most preferred mode of travel for the teeming masses in both urban and rural India, accounting for the largest share of 65% of all transportation used in the country. Resumption of bus services and relaxation of COVID lockdowns have led to swift recovery of bus ticketing volumes and the industry is expected to fully recover in the next six months.

Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founders, ixigo, said the founders of both platforms share the passion and focus on the next billion traveler market. “AbhiBus has built an innovative and high growth company with deep penetration on the supply side across state road transport companies (SRTCs) and private bus operators and on the demand side, as the dominate bus ticketing brand in several Indian states. By leveraging our combined user base, multi-modal transportation capabilities, tech resources and travel domain expertise we will be able to enhance the experience of millions of travellers in India everyday.”

Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, Founder and CEO, AbhiBus, said they started AbhiBus with a vision to become India’s most preferred bus booking platform. “We are happy that we were able to build a motivated, tightly knit team and we grew rapidly to become one of the leading bus ticketing players in the country. We are excited to joining ixigo, whose team and products have created new benchmarks for the travel industry. We remain committed as a team towards our joint vision of serving the underserved market segment of the next billion travelers in the country, for whom trains and buses are the primary modes of transportation.”

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As per industry reports, AbhiBus was the second largest bus aggregator in India in FY20, selling 26,000 bus tickets per day through its platform. This deal will help ixigo group to consolidate its presence in tier 2, 3 and 4 markets by offering a multi-modal transportation experience across trains, flights and buses to its combined user base of nearly 255 million users, as of May 31, 2021.

Established in 2008 by Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, AbhiBus provides end-to-end software and other value-added solutions such as e-ticketing systems, fleet management solutions, vehicle tracking systems, passenger information systems, logistics management. The company also provides technology solutions to private bus partners and state transport corporations in India. It has also partnered with IRCTC to offer bus tickets to IRCTC users.